Fallen Angels
by Danny'sGhostGirl
Summary: Their moments together were limited now; however, it was moments like this that let him know that this war had not turned his heart to stone. It was little moments like this that let him know there was still hope.


**DGG: Ah. Fallenangelshipping. These two poor babies.**

 **Enjoy!**

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The sound of a piece of rubble rolling across the ground caused the fourteen-year-old to hop into action. He leapt away from the large, crumbling wall that he was leaning against while activating his duel disk. With his feet planted firmly in the dirt, he drew his hand, poised to take the first strike; however, he gasped when he saw his "opponent" staring at him in horror.

"Ruri?" he furrowed his brow for a moment.

The girl remained silent, frozen like a statue with her eyes transfixed upon his "weapon". The male relaxed as he deactivated his duel disk; however, the action did not seem to comfort his companion. She still kept her gaze on his duel disk as if expecting it to lash out like a rattlesnake at any moment.

"Ruri, what are you doing out here?" he asked, his voice stern. "Does Shun know you came outside the camp?"

Ruri remained silent, still staring at his left arm.

"Ruri, you know you can't just come out here. It's dangerous," he chided her while stepping forward.

The girl, the fourteen-year-old sister of his best friend, took in a shaky breath as she finally raised her gaze to meet his; his features finally softened upon seeing the tears glistening in her eyes in the moonlight. Her face was awash with horror and disbelief, which caused the male to feel like he was struggling to breathe, almost as though he'd been punched straight in the gut. He had rarely ever seen her in distress before all of this– she was always so happy and upbeat. But on the rare occasion that a frown had even threatened to sit on her lips, he felt empowered with the determination of one thousand men in order to erase her problem and bring back the smile that sent shivers of electricity all throughout his body. But what was he supposed to do when he was the one that was causing her distress?

"You…you sure are quick, Yuto," she finally mumbled as her lips quivered. "You were ready to attack me…"

Yuto gulped down the hard lump that had formed in his throat.

"Well…you have to be quick, Ruri," he explained, his face stoic again. "If any of that Fusion Scum shows up, we can't afford to let them get the jump on us. And I certainly won't let them into the refugee camp. I will not let them Card anyone else. Not if I can help –"

He was interrupted by Ruri suddenly cupping his face in her hands. Yuto's heart raced upon feeling her warmth, and his breath caught in his throat as she stared into his eyes. He felt as though he was about to float away, and Ruri was the only thing keeping him tethered to the ground. It was a familiar feeling, one he gratefully welcomed, and one he didn't typically have time to feel anymore due to their respective rolls in the war; it felt almost like old times. His bliss was interrupted, however, when he noticed that Ruri wasn't sharing in his reverie.

"You're so different," she frowned while letting her hands drop to her sides.

Yuto blinked while visibly flinching as though her words had slapped him in the face.

"Wh-what?" he stuttered.

"I mean…you're not the only one," she averted her gaze while absently scratching her forearm. "Everyone's different now. But your eyes, they're…they're not the same. They're colder than they used to be. They always used to invite people in but now…" she trailed off for a moment as she choked back a sob. "And…and you're so on edge now. You're just ready to attack first and ask questions later. It's just so…drastic. You were so laidback before."

"We're in a war, Ruri," he shook his head. "We have to adapt."

The female sighed while hugging herself, pain etched across her face as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Ruri, I don't like this any more than you do," he continued. "I'd rather be at home. I'd rather be hanging out with you and Shun. I'd rather be at the movies. I'd even rather be doing homework right now. All of that is better than being in a war, Ruri. I don't want to have to be out here on guard duty. I don't want to have to worry about my wellbeing every single second of the day. I want to remember what it was like to have a decent night's sleep. I want this to end. I wish this never happened, Ruri, but it has, and we can't change that. So until we win this war, we have to adapt, I have to adapt. We all have to change."

"But I don't want you to change!" her voice shook as she whipped her head up to look at him. "Look what this war has done to my brother! Look how different he is!"

"I know," Yuto frowned. "But the circumstances…"

"Dueling is supposed to be for fun!" tears finally poured from her eyes. "You still believe that, don't you? We used to have fun, but if anyone activates their duel disks now it's solely to fight! This isn't how it should be! And now I've learned that our own people, the people a part of the resistance, have also started Carding people!"

"Card or be Carded. I know," Yuto sneered.

"Carding the people from Fusion isn't going to fix anything! It's just making the situation worse!"

Yuto cast his eyes toward the ground at her words.

"H-have you…?" she gasped.

"No! I would never!" he quickly shook his head. "I don't agree with it, but I understand the others' thinking. They think that if they Card the students from Duel Academy that it will send the message that we're not ones to be easily messed with. Plus they believe it means that there are less of them to come after us and that we're a little safer that way. Which I guess is kinda true, but more of them just keep showing up in droves. It's like there's an endless supply of them. For all we know, maybe there is, but I don't think Carding them is right. It's only going to bring about more violence, and violence doesn't solve violence."

Ruri gave him a grateful smile through her tears as she pulled him into a hug. Yuto tensed for a moment, feeling heat rising in his cheeks, but after a moment his muscles relaxed, and he wrapped his arms around her in return.

"Maybe you're not so different after all," she whispered into his ear.

Yuto smiled as she pulled away.

"Please don't lose yourself in all of this," she begged. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you. You do a lot of fighting. I get scared, Yuto…"

The male closed his eyes as he took in her words. Everything had been going so well before Duel Academy invaded. He knew it was against his better judgment, but…

"Would you like to keep me company out here?" he offered. "Four eyes would be better than two. Plus we'll…we don't really get to…hang out anymore."

Ruri nodded while a shaky smile appeared on her face. Yuto escorted her back to the crumbling wall where they stood side by side, staring out into the distance and watching for signs of the enemy. After a few moments of silence, Ruri peered up at the male; however, he didn't even acknowledge her; he was too focused on the task at hand.

Ruri cast her eyes toward the ground. He was so serious now. He used to be happy and carefree. She longed more than anything to turn back time in order to see him that way again. A new wave of tears welled up in her eyes as she leaned her head on his left shoulder and linked her arm with his. This time her action did not go unnoticed.

"R-Ruri…" he stammered. "W-what are you…? We can't…Y-you shouldn't…"

"Shh. I want to pretend for just one second that things are how they used to be."

Yuto's heart panged at her words. He would give anything to not know this harsh reality. He would do anything to be able to go back in time to when he and Ruri would sneak off together. He would do anything in order to see her truly smile again.

"Yuto, it feels like this war will never end," she buried her face in the crook of his neck.

"S-sure it will, Ruri," his face flushed a bright shade of pink. "And when it does, we'll all rebuild Heartland. We'll make it beautiful again."

"Yuto," she tightened her grip on his arm, "when that day comes, will you take me on a walk through the park like we used to?"

The male smiled.

"Of course. Whatever you want."

"You promise?"

"I promise, Ruri."

"Good," she lifted her head and placed a quick peck on his cheek, causing a blush to rise onto her cheeks. "I'll look forward to it."

Yuto's eyes widened as his breath caught in his throat while his cheeks turned completely red. His heart raced in his chest while a million butterflies tickled his stomach, and a goofy smile sprung to his lips.

"Me, too, Ruri," he spoke while resting his head against hers.


End file.
